July 28, 2014 — Members of the state’s congressional delegation have joined Massachusetts officials in urging NOAA to expedite the disbursement of the direct financial assistance to commercial fishermen that is part of the federal fishery disaster aid package.
In a letter to Eileen Sobeck, assistant administrator for NOAA fisheries, five members, including U.S. Rep. John Tierney and Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey, pointed out that it has been nearly eight months since Congress appropriated $75 million in fishery disaster aid and expressed disappointment that the Commerce Department, through NOAA, “has yet to disburse a single dollar.”
Massachusetts is set to receive $14.5 million under the first two phases of the distribution plan agreed to by the fishery directors of the five New England coastal states and New York and approved by NOAA.
Read the full story from the Gloucester Daily Times